Die cut unit

ABSTRACT

Die cut unit having vertically reciprocable cutting blade with only pivotal movement and mounting of the parts, comprising parallelogram linkage maintaining blade vertical during downward cutting movement including an upper link pivotally interconnecting stationary frame and upper portion of blade, a lower link pivoted at forward end to lower portion of blade and at rear end to normally vertical link pivoted at upper end on frame to permit forward swinging of lower edge of blade by the conveyor belt upon completion of downward cutting movement, adjustable cam means to variably limit extent of forward swinging of blade and return blade to vertical position during its upward movement, and tensioning means interposed between normally vertical link and frame to resist swinging of blade comprising a friction element engaging that link, spring means exerting force against friction element, and micro-adjustment control operable during actuation of the blade to selectively vary the tension of the spring means.

United States Patent [191 Meyer Nov. 13, 1973 1 DIE CUT UNIT [75] lnventor: Alfred L. Meyer, Libertyville, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Anetsberger Brothers, Inc.,

Northbrook, Ill.

22 Filed: Mar. 13, 12m

211 Appl. No.: 234,147

[52] US. Cl. 83/628, 74/25, 74/43, 83/308, 83/315, 83/643, 83/644 [51] Int. Cl B26d 5/16 [58] Field of Search 83/628, 630, 642, 83/643, 644, 308, 315; 74/25, 42, 43

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,660,133 11/1953 Anetsberger et al. 83/308 2,676,637 4/1954 Weber et a1. 83/308 X 2,436,572 2/1948 Henschker 83/315 X 1,805,163 5/1931 Buckner 83/642 3,677,732 7/1972 Dornan 83/643 X Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz Assistant ExaminerW. Donald Bray Attorrtey.lames A. Davis et al.

[57] ABSTRACT Die cut unit having vertically reciprocable cutting blade with only pivotal movement and mounting of the parts, comprising parallelogram linkage maintaining blade vertical during downward cutting movement including an upper link pivotally interconnecting stationary frame and upper portion of blade, a lower link pivoted at forward end to lower portion of blade and at rear end to normally vertical link pivoted at upper end on frame to permit forward swinging of lower edge of blade by the conveyor belt upon completion of downward cutting movement, adjustable cam means to variably limit extent of forward swinging of blade and return blade to vertical position during its upward movement, and tensioning means interposed between normally vertical link and frame to resist swinging of blade comprising a friction element engaging that link, spring means exerting force against friction element, and micro-adjustment control operable during actuation of the blade to selectively vary the tension of the spring means.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures DIE cur UNIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention:

This invention relates generally to pastry production equipment, and more particularly to a novel die cut unit.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

In known die cut units having a vertically reciprocable blade, it is the practice to employ slots or ways and blocks slidable therein to guide the reciprocating movements of the blade. Such constructions are expensive to make and inherently are subjected to maximum wear of the surfaces that are movable translationally relative to each other. An example of this type of mechanism is disclosed in U. S. Letters Pat. No. 2,754,772 wherein the'blade contacts the usual dough-supporting conveyor belt upon completion of its downward cutting stroke and is hung from a shaft carried by the slide blocks to permit its being swung by the belt and, thereafter, is cam-returned to vertical position during its upward stroke. A variation of that structure is illustrated and described in U. S. Letters Pat. No. 3,566,805 as including a backing plate under the conveyor belt having upstanding blade-guiding ways reciprocable to effect similar swinging of the cutting edge of the blade, rather than the same being freely swingable, and that is the subject of application Ser. No. 64,284, filed Aug. 17, 1970, as a division of No. 3,566,805 and issued January 23, l973 asNo. 3,712,165.

In a commercial modification of the freely swingable blade mounting of the embodiment described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,754,722, set screws are provided in each of the three bearings for the swingable blade-supporting bar which may be adjusted to impose frictional resistance against the bearings or the vertically reciprocable cross shaft upon which they are mounted to limit the otherwise free swinging of the blade. This adds the desirable feature of insuring vertical downward cutting movement of the blade while providing for subsequent dough-clearing swinging thereof to permit continuous and'uninterrupted belt travel, but such set screws cause excessive wear of the parts, normally do not impose the desired frictional resistance uniformly, and cannot be adjusted during operation of the blade.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A principal object of this invention is to minimize the cost of manufacturing such a die cutting unit having a reciprocable and swingable cutting blade and, at the same time, to assure maximum life without any repairs or parts replacements. This has been accomplished by employing only pivotal movement and mounting of the parts, thus eliminating costly slide blocks and ways and minimizing frictional wear.

Stabilizing of an otherwise free-swinging blade also is effected in a manner to substantially eliminate wear while permitting selective and extremely accurate adjustment of a swing-retarding force even during operation of the blade. This is accomplished by incorporating as a part of a parallelogram linkage, which assures the blade being maintained vertical during a downward cutting movement, a micro-adjustment tension control at the rear end of a lower link that is pivoted at its forward end to the lower part of the blade. This tension control is in the form of a friction element engaging a relatively movable part of the linkage, and spring IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a die cut unit embodying the features of the invention with parts of the casing removed to expose the blade actuating means;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation as seen from the left or far end of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a similar elevational view as seen from the other or near right end of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation seen from the right in FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings comprises a die cut unit designated generally by reference numeral 11 which includes a stationary frame having left and right vertical end plates 12 and 13, respectively, with rectangular slots or apertures 14 in their forward central portions. The unit 11 is mounted in well-known manner on parallel side rails 15 comprising a part of the frame of the usual makeup equipment which includes the top run 16 of a horizontally movable dough-supporting conveyor belt.

As best seen in FIG. 4, a horizontally disposed shelf member 17 extends between the end plates 12 and 13 at the rear of the unit 11 for supporting suitable drive means including an electric motor 18, a gear reduction and clutch mechanism 19, a drive sprocket 21 and a chaim 22 engageable with the latter and a driven sprocket 23 which is mounted upon and secured to a transversely extending drive shaft 24. The shaft 24 extends outwardly through suitable bearings 25 supported by the end plates 12 and 13 and has a disc 26 secured to each of its outer ends. Adjacent its outer periphery, each of these discs 26 is provided with an outwardly extending pin 27 for pivotally supporting a crank arm 28, the disc 26 and pins 27 thus comprising rotatable crank means forming a part of the drive means for reciprocably actuating the crank arms 28.

The lower ends of the crank arms 28 are pivotally connected to and support the respective outer ends of a swingable blade-supporting bar or vertically reciprocable cross shaft 29, that shaft extending through the apertures 14 in the end plates 12 and 13 and having its outer ends turned down or reduced for such pivotal engagement with the crank arms 28. The central portion of the bar or shaft 29 is provided with a depending flange 31 to which the upper end of a cutting blade 32 is removable secured, as by means of suitable bolts 33 (FIGS. 1 and 2).

Suitable control means for determining the timing or frequency of operations of the clutch mechanism 19 is mounted in a control unit indicated generally by reference numeral 34. This may take the form of that illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 3 of the hereinbefore identified application Ser. No. 64,284 and FIG. 8 in No. 3,566,805, and will provide a wide range of cutting actuations of the blade 32.

Also pivotally connected to the outer ends of the blade-support bar or cross shaft 29, in addition to the crank arms 28, are the forward ends of arms or links 35, the rear ends of which are pivotally connected, respectively, at 36 to the adjacent end plates 12 and 13 (FIGS. 2 and 3). Thearm 35 at the right hand end of the unit 11 (FIGS. 1 and 3) comprises the upper link of a parallelogram linkage for maintaining the blade 32 vertical during downward cutting movement. This linkage also includes a vertical arm 37 which is rigidly secured to the blade-support bar or cross shaft 29, a lower arm or link 38 which is pivotally connected at its forward end to the vertical arm 37, and a normally vertical link 39 to the intermediate portion of which the rear end of the lower link 38 is connected. The upper end of the vertical link 39 is pivotally mounted on a stud 41 extending outwardly from the end plate 13. Also mounted on this stud 41 is a friction element or washer 42 held in face contact with the link 39 by a coil spring 43 mounted on the stud 41 and a nut 44 screwed onto an outer threaded portion of the stid. These mem bers 42-44 thus comprise tensioning means exerting frictional force against movement of the vertical link 39 which may be selectively varied even during operation of the blade 32 merely by turning of the nut 44 on the stationary stud 41.

In the normal at-rest position of this mechanism with the blade 32 and its support bar or cross shaft 29 in the raised position of FIG. 1, the lower end of the normally vertical link 39 engages against a suitable stop comprising a stud 45 mounted on the end plate 13. The lower end of the vertical blade arm 37 is provided with an outwardly extending stud upon which a roller 46 is suitably rotatably mounted. The roller 46 cooperates with the rear slanting edge of a cam plate 47 that is adjustably mounted on the end plate 13, as by means of suitable bolts and slots 48.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that each rotation of the drive shaft 24, as determined by the control unit 34, will result in vertical reciprocation of the blade-supporting bar or cross shaft 29 from its normal uppermost position of FIG. 1 downwardly to its lowermost position of FIG. 3 and return. The parallelogram linkage comprising the members 35 and 37-39 will maintain the blade 32 vertical as it decends in a cutting operation. However, as the blade comes into contact with the conveyor belt 16, which is moving to the left as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lower edge thereof will be swung forwardly by the conveyor belt in its direction of movement. Such swinging movement of the blade will be limited by engagement of the roller 46 with the cam plate 47, and the latter also will return the also dampens such movement and the subsequent return of the blade to vertical position to effect a smooth operation of the blade and eliminate undesirable vibrations. It will be appreciated that the advantages of this arrangement are that such desirable frictional resistance imposed by this tensioning means is uniform in character, effectively stabilizes the otherwise freeswinging blade, and the micro-adjustment control effected by the nut 44 may be operated at any time, including during the actuation of the blade 46, to selectively vary the resistance offered by the spring 43 and friction element 42 to swinging of the blade.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a die cut unit having a stationary frame, a vertically reciprocable cutting blade, and drive means including rotatable crank means; a crank arm pivotally connected to said crank means at its upper end and to an upper portion of said blade at its lower end, and parallelogram linkage maintaining said blade vertical during downward cutting movement comprising upper and lower links pivotally supported at their rear ends by said frame and pivotally connected at their forward ends to the upper and lower portions, respectively, of said blade.

2. A die cut unit according to claim 1, wherein said parallelogram linkage includes a normally vertical link pivotally supported at its upper end by said frame and pivotally connected therebelow to the rear end of said lower link to permit forward swinging of the lower portion of said blade upon completion of a downward cutting movement.

3. In a die cutting unit according to claim 2, cam means for returning said blade to vertical condition during upward movement thereof adjustably mounted on said frame to variably limit the extent of forward swinging of the lower portion of said blade.

4. In a die cutting unit according to claim 2, tensioning means interposed between said normally vertical link and said frame to resist swinging of said lower portion of said blade. 1

5. A die cut unit according to claim 4, wherein said tensioning means comprises a micro-adjustment control means for selectively varying the resistance offered thereby to swinging of said blade which may be actuated during operation of said blade.

' 6. A die cut unit according to claim 4, wherein said tensioning means comprises a friction element engaging said normally vertical link, spring means exerting force against said friction element, and means for selectively varying the tension of said spring means. 

1. In a die cut unit having a stationary frame, a vertically reciprocable cutting blade, and drive means including rotatable crank means; a crank arm pivotally connected to said crank means at its upper end and to an upper portion of said blade at its lower end, and parallelogram linkage maintaining said blade vertical during downward cutting movement comprising upper and lower links pivotally supported at their rear ends by said frame and pivotally connected at their forward ends to the upper and lower portions, respectively, of said blade.
 2. A die cut unit according to claim 1, wherein said parallelogram linkage includes a normally vertical link pivotally supported at its upper end by said frame and pivotally connected therebelow to the rear end of said lower link to permit forward swinging of the lower portion of said blade upon completion of a downward cutting movement.
 3. In a die cutting unit according to claim 2, cam means for returning said blade to vertical condition during upward movement thereof adjustably mounted on said frame to variably limit the extent of forward swinging of the lower portion of said blade.
 4. In a die cutting unit according to claim 2, tensioning means interposed between said normally vertical link and said frame to resist swinging of said lower portion of said blade.
 5. A die cut unit according to claim 4, wherein said tensioning means comprises a micro-adjustment control means for selectively varying the resistance offered thereby to swinging of said blade which may be actuated during operation of said blade.
 6. A die cut unit according to claim 4, wherein said tensioning means comprises a friction element engaging said normally vertical link, spring means exerting force against said friction element, and means for selectively varying the tension of said spring means. 